THE PIOUS CONSTANCE.
(FROM CHAUCER.)
ONCE upon a time the Emperor of Rome had a beautiful daughter named Constance. She was so fair to look on, that far and wide, she was spoken of as “ the beautiful princess.” But, better than that, she was so good and so saintly that everybody in her father’s dominions loved her, and often they forgot to call her “ the beautiful princess,” but called her instead, “ Constance the good.”
All the merchants who came thither to buy and sell goods, carried away to other countries accounts of Constance, her beauty, and her holiness. One day there came to Rome some merchants from Syria, with shiploads of cloths of gold, and satins rich in hue, and all kinds of spicery, which they would sell in the Roman markets. While they abode here, the fame of Constance came to their ears, and they some times saw her lovely face as she went about the city among the poor and suffering, and were so pleased with the sight that they could talk of
